* ActingForTwo: Peter Sellers as Captain Mandrake, President Merkin Muffley and Dr. Strangelove, and it was meant to be 4 but a sprained ankle prevented him from getting into and out of the B-52 set, so Slim Pickens was added to the cast to play "King" Kong.* ActuallyPrettyFunny: Meta-example. Stanley Kubrick tricked George C. Scott into doing over-the-top takes for playing Turgidson as practice, and went to use these takes in the final film. Scott swore not to work with Kubrick again after this, though he actually liked Kubrick's genius behind this deception and was satisfied with his performance in the final film.* DuelingMovies: ''Film/FailSafe'', a dead serious take on this FailsafeFailure premise, was also released in 1964. The straight film is good (though it performed poorly at the box-office), but Kubrick's film has become iconic.* EnforcedMethodActing:** Slim Pickens was unaware that the film was a comedy. This is possibly because previous actors, including John Wayne, had turned the part down because they saw the film as "pinko." That said, Pickens didn't have any problem with the film, especially since he became so famous for it, though this may be because Kubrick only gave him his parts of the script.** Also, GeorgeCScott was unwilling to go over the top in his portrayal of General Turgidson, so Kubrick tricked him by telling him to do a few over the top takes as "practice" and that they would never be put into the real movie. Kubrick lied, creating one of the best [[LargeHam Large Hams]] ever but also causing Scott to swear he'd never work with Kubrick again. Scott did end up admiring Kubrick's genius behind all that deception.* ExecutiveMeddling: The geniuses at Columbia Pictures were for some reason under the impression that the only reason ''{{Lolita}}'' was a success was the gimmick of Peter Sellers playing multiple roles. They would only greenlight ''Dr. Strangelove'' on the condition that Kubrick agree to cast Sellers in ''at least'' four roles.* FakeNationality - British-born Creator/PeterSellers plays the American President and the eponymous German scientist, as well as the British Group Captain.* HeyItsThatGuy: [[Film/BlazingSaddles Taggert]], [[ThePinkPanther the original Clouseau]], [[Film/TheGodfather Captain McClusky]], General Film/{{Patton}}, [[Series/{{Thunderbirds}} Scott Tracy]] and [[StarWars Darth Vader]] (the last two are partly crossed with HeyItsThatVoice).* MidDevelopmentGenreShift: This was originally meant to be a straight drama, much like the original novel, but Creator/StanleyKubrick found the situations so ridiculous and over the top that he decided to [[PlayedForLaughs play it for]] [[DarkComedy dark laughs]].* TheMusical: ''[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Strangelove: The Musical]]'', which has toured fringe comedy festivals. The ''Red Phone Rag'' is a highlight.* ThrowItIn: ** Much of Peter Sellers' dialogue was improvised (Kubrick had three cameras on Sellers at all times to take full advantage of this), including the hotline telephone conversation; similarly, Strangelove's EvilHand's rampage at the end was largely improvisation (it was also Sellers' idea that it should be gloved). Keep in mind that Kubrick was the most insane [[ControlFreak perfectionist]] in the history of filmmaking. [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome And Sellers got to ad-lib.]]** At one point, George C. Scott is emphatically trying to convince the president (Sellers) to launch an attack when he suddenly trips and collapses to the ground before quickly picking himself up and continuing the scene. It fit so well with the deliberate ridiculousness of the rest of the movie that Kubrick left it in. * TooSoon: The release date was slightly delayed after JFK's assassination due to the story involving a fictional president:** In the scene where Major Kong reads the description of a survival kit's contents out loud, he originally says "Shoot, a fella could have a pretty good weekend in ''Dallas'' with all that stuff!" ''Dallas'' was redubbed to ''Vegas'' because of the connotations carried by ''Dallas'' in a post JFK-assassination America. It actually worked out well, as ''Vegas'' makes more sense in this context, especially today -- no one would think of Dallas as a "party destination" any more, but Vegas is still the king of "What happens here stays here".** The original ending was to have everyone in the war room end up in a pie fight (don't ask). The President would be knocked down from the impact of the pie [[PieInTheFace hitting him]], with Gen. Turgidson saying "Gentlemen! Our gallant young president has been struck down in his prime!" Despite it being filmed before the assassination...wow. Just wow. (That wasn't why the scene was deleted, though- they just [[{{Corpsing}} couldn't film it with the necessary "gravity."]])* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Creator/PeterSellers originally was also asked to play Maj. T.J. "King" Kong, and practiced intensely with the American screenwriter to get the {{American Accent|s}} right. After the first day of shooting, he sprained his ankle, and could no longer work in the cramped airplane set. So they recast the role with Slim Pickens.** JohnWayne was considered for the part of Major Kong as well.----